A good portion of the artists you listed play Marshall amps, have you looked in to any Marshalls? Out of the choices presented I would probably look at the Mesa Stiletto or the Orange Rockerverb. Every time I have played a Rockerverb it always sounded very vintage to me, good enough to cover the Hendrix, SRV, Andy Timmons, but would leave you wanting more for GNR, Paul Gilbert, Racer X type stuff IMO.

I've told this story a few times, but here it is. Last year, I spent a couple hours trying out an Orange Rockerverb 100, EVH 5150 III, & Bogner Uberschall side by side. The Orange didn't have NEARLY the note definition & articulation of the other 2. Sounded muddy by direct comparison IMO. Mind you, I really do like the tone of Oranges in general, but at that time I wanted a super metal tone. I should say that I already owned 2 other great metal setups at the time. The Bogner had the best really usable metal tone-rich, fat, & very easy to make it sound great, but I bought a 5150 III, because I'm a VH fanboy, & thought 3 channels would be cool. Also, the EVH was about $1000 cheaper than the other 2. (The EVH has since been sold, too, replaced by a small non-metal amp ). What I'm saying here, is YOU NEED to TRY the amp first, & directly compare it side by side to others of similar types. Be patient if you're spending $2000 on a head, because there's LOTS of great amps in that range.It may be worth driving several hours to a large shop or amp/guitar show to demo stuff, to save yourself from a bad decision. Good luck!

Also, as mindstealer stated above, you'll not likely get a great GNR tone or Gilbert tone (esp Gilbert tone) from any Orange IMO. Gilbert gets great note definition, but a lot of that is his superior technique too .

Edit: I just re-read your post, & realized you're in the UK, so checking out USA amps can be a problem. Again, as stated above, you may just want to check into a used Marshall JCM800 (old one). It'll be easy to get close to those sounds you want using a couple pedals, & it won't cost you an arm & a leg.

Quote by 311ZOSOVHJH

Riffhog for President

Quote by Cathbard

There's no point apologising for your feet smelling when there's a 300lb gorilla in the room taking a crap on the couch.

Oranges, in general, have this kind of fuzzy kind of sound, it's not really fuzzy, but just the kind of fluffy kind of texture cause a lot of people to feel like they don't have the same type of note definition of other britsh style amps like say... a Marshall.

An Orange is definitely not the best option for GnR type tones though, not even close.

You don't even need to check out an old JCM, you could probably use something like a Vintage Modern and get the tones you are after or even a current production JCM 2000 DSL. Both would work for all of the bands listed (except maybe Muse, never heard them). You should always be able to check out any amp before you buy it, either by going to a store that sells vintage gear or if you are buying from a private seller going to their place and testing it out.

If you're buying a Rockerverb, you're going to get 70's style tones more than anything. It's not a metal amp, at the end of the day. I've never personally had difficulty with note definition, but if I'm playing anything that metally, it's always tightened up with a TS9 or an EQ, so I guess that makes sense.

I found the amp is great at classic England tones, but has it's own sound too. You really will have to try one to see if it's what you want.

If you're buying a Rockerverb, you're going to get 70's style tones more than anything. It's not a metal amp, at the end of the day. I've never personally had difficulty with note definition, but if I'm playing anything that metally, it's always tightened up with a TS9 or an EQ, so I guess that makes sense.

I found the amp is great at classic England tones, but has it's own sound too. You really will have to try one to see if it's what you want.

Oh, btw, I've never had a problem getting a GnRish tone from mine.

Tell that to the guys from Between the Buried and Me

I LOVE the Rockerverb. If I ever get another amp, that'll be the one. However, as someone else stated, it is a fuzzy amp and you will probably get the tone you want out of something like a Marshall instead.

However, for stoner rock/metal and great British tones, the Rockerverb is fantastic.

If you're buying a Rockerverb, you're going to get 70's style tones more than anything. It's not a metal amp, at the end of the day. I've never personally had difficulty with note definition, but if I'm playing anything that metally, it's always tightened up with a TS9 or an EQ, so I guess that makes sense.

I found the amp is great at classic England tones, but has it's own sound too. You really will have to try one to see if it's what you want.

i played a rockerverb 100 a while back, and wrote some review on it, lemme find it.

wow. every sales guy walking past said "best amp in the store right now!" and it really was. the crunch was crisp and defined. the cleans were also jangly and warm, a bit less chimey than an el84 based amp, but still beautiful.

i just liked it a lot, and think it would suit your styles pretty well.

I know what you mean by wanting something new but sometimes you just gotta go with it. You'll either get more amp for your money or you'll save some money. If you saved $200 for example that would be more than enough to have an amp tech give it a clean bill of health and new tubes or whatever. Plus, if you buy a cab that way, the speakers may be broken in better too.

Honestly, an amp of that caliber if it has not gigged extensively is going to be just fine anyway. I'm not pushing you into a Rockerverb either. I liked it but I like 70's fuzz. I told you in your other thread to get a Splawn so

Find a musician in the States that is coming to UK for a tour and have them get it for you. OK. Bad idea.

I know what you mean by wanting something new but sometimes you just gotta go with it. You'll either get more amp for your money or you'll save some money. If you saved $200 for example that would be more than enough to have an amp tech give it clean bill of health and new tubes or whatever. Plus, if you buy cab that way, the speakers may be broken in better too.

Find a musician in the States that is coming to UK for a tour and have them get it for you. OK. Bad idea.

haha funny suggestion mate :P If i buy it new I won't need it looked at by a tech

Most people, including me, say great things about it, but there are a few things you should be aware of.

- Very compressed even at high volumes with a good amount of gain.

- The cleans are very sensitive to picking/strumming, and can be a problem with high output pickups.

- If you're planning on playing any br00talz on it, the bottom end is not very tight, as it's not really a metal amp. I think the RV100 might be a little tighter, or else I have no idea how Jim Root uses one in B tuning or whatever.

- It is VERY noisy, contrary to their advertisments. With the gain in metal territory, the hiss is twice as lous as my bandmate's crank, and he's running more gain.

It really is a good amp, just be prepared to use a noise gate and change you're palm muting style a bit to compensate for the bottom end.

In that video I posted when chappers turns the mids down and ups the gain it sounds pretty tight to me but I'm sure you know best seeing as you own one

I've been wondering about that video for quite a while. Actually, he never has any hiss in any of his videos, so he must be editing it out in pro tools or something.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like playing metal on a vox, it just becomes mushy and undefined when doing anything fast on the lower strings. The tuning you are in also makes a huge difference. It doesn't handle anything besides drop D too well.

I like the RV50. I don't think it's any looser than a Marshall. I run a Tube Screamer in front, a BBE Sonic Max Rack in the loop with a delay and it is nice warm metal. Clearer, more tone, less feedback and hum than my JVM and way better at lower volumes than my splawn Quickrod. If I didn't have nieghbors I would have stuck with the Splawn. I think the amp is very quiet, maybe you have a bad preamp tube. No hiss or hum at all with the gain at 1:30. It's PLENTY there. I did have a Bogner Uberschall and that amp ripped, but it always sounded pissed off, even with the gain down .. not my bag ALL the time. All these amps are very good , it's just what sound's best to you. Metal is the extreme side of this amp. It does many tones well. It's not perfect, none of them are.